If you haven’t got on the track to lose your body fat, especially on your abdomen, here is some impetus for you to do so. The scary truth is, overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. Waist circumference which is the most commonly used marker of obesity is affected by abdominal fat. Both men and women are seen to face this problem and find it hard to get rid of it despite exercise. Wondering why that happens? Here are nine reasons why you are not losing body fat…
-Nutritionist and Dietician Golla Sailaja
Energy intake exceeds expenditure
If the calories consumed is more than that burned, then it might get hard to see the result of the exercise. Keep a count of calories consumed, discuss it with your gym instructor and try and keep yourself in negative energy balance.
As always, it is best to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet to keep your calories in check.
Inadequate physical activity
Activities like walking slowly for 20 minutes can be beneficial in many ways but might not necessarily help you lose weight especially in your belly area. As fat is not used as a primary source of energy, it is harder to lose it. Thus, intensive exercises are more effective. You can plan an exercise regime with your gym instructor or an expert for best results and to avoid injury to the body.
Set point
It is believed that every person is programmed to have a specific weight range for their bodies to carry out the activities in the most favourable way.
What might happen is that when one starts exercising, the body produces signals to maintain the weight and the energy expenditure is thus decreased. That’s one of the reasons why so many people find themselves gaining the weight that they have lost. Consistency, discipline and patience are key to see the difference.
Frequency
As mentioned above, exercising frequency is very important to lose weight everywhere including your tummy. Motivate yourself to do so on a regular basis and not sporadically.
Intensity
A level of difficulty is required to achieve goals like building muscles or losing weight. Ensure that there is a balance between challenge and ease in your exercises.
Type
There are a variety of exercises for endurance and training and each has its own effects, so according to the desired results the type of exercise should be performed. In case you haven’t lost weight despite efforts, you might want to think about changing your type of exercise.
Overload and Adaptation
Our bodies get adapted to regular exercise and there is no further effect seen after a particular amount of time. It is best to stimulate the body by overloading it in terms of increasing the intensity of exercise or its duration.
Periodization
This refers to a systemic or planned variation of exercises which overload the body and also allow it a period of rest. This prevents the muscles from getting injured and gives best results.
Rest
Rest is a quintessential element and necessary not only after a workout but also between workouts in order to avoid overtraining. It elicits best responses to training.
Imp – “Rome was not built in one day”, so if you do not find immediate results, don’t give up. Your motivation is important to achieve the desired results.
Golla Sailaja is a Research Assistant at School of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, University of Barcelona. She is qualified with M.Sc in Dietetics and Applied Nutrition.
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Nice
Very good explanation